There’s nothing more romantic than a handwritten love letter. And even after many years, they still hold the same significance as the day they were written.
Love letters arrive 70 years later
Dorothy Bartos Carlberg, now 85 years old, was writing back and forth to Navy man Al Fragakis during World War II. Fragakis was stationed in San Diego, and Carlberg lived all the way in Chicago.
“We were friends, but we weren’t hanky-panky or anything,” Carlberg told NBC Atlanta.
But she didn’t discover his true feelings for her until she received his love letters 70 years later. The letters had somehow gotten lost during their journey from San Diego to Chicago, and the postal service finally delivered them to Carlberg’s old address in July. The woman living in her home managed to track Carlberg down and, at last, deliver Fragakis’ heartfelt letters.
The really amazing part of this story is that despite having Alzheimer’s disease, these letters were able to jog Carlberg’s memory. She remembered Fragakis like it was yesterday.
“He was a really nice guy,” she told the Chicago Tribune. “Not fast … my dad was very strict, but he liked boys in the military. He thought they were decent.”
Carlberg married a man named Victor Carlberg five years after Fragakis wrote those letters. It’s interesting to think of what might have happened if those love letters had actually gotten to her doorstep in time.
No matter how much time passes, birthday cards, thank you notes and other letters will always hold a special significance.